Iran Deal Broke U.s. Ban

White House Left Congress In The Dark

November 09, 1986|By George de Lama and Douglas Frantz, Chicago Tribune. Tribune correspondent James O`Shea in Washington and special correspondent Julian Nundy in Paris contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — The Reagan administration violated its own ban on sending U.S. arms to Iran by permitting several shipments of weapons to be exchanged for the release of American hostages in Lebanon, well-placed government sources said. The arms shipments were approved by President Reagan over the last 18 months. The shipments were directed by presidential aides after secret contacts between National Security Council staff members and Iranian officials and their intermediaries in Tehran, Europe and New York, according to the sources.

``There was definitely more than one shipment, and maybe as many as five,`` one government source said, speaking on condition he not be identified.

At least one of the arms shipments was routed through Israel in September, and there were unconfirmed reports that American mercenaries who helped arm Nicaraguan anti-Sandinista rebels also were involved, the sources said.

Three American hostages--Rev. Benjamin Weir, Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco and David Jacobsen--have been released from captivity in Beirut since the shipments began last year.

But three other Americans have been kidnaped in Lebanon since Sept. 9, leading some critics to question the wisdom of the White House`s strategy of trading weapons with supporters of terrorist groups to free American captives. The U.S.-Iranian contacts were so secret that even top officials in the State and Defense Departments were given no information about the arms shipments.

Secretary of State George Shultz and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger both have lodged protests with the President over the policy of trading arms for hostages, the sources said.

Disclosure of the negotiations and weapons deliveries brought reactions of shock and anger on Capitol Hill.

According to well-placed congressional sources, the key committees that oversee U.S. intelligence activities were not informed. Under law, the panels must be briefed beforehand of U.S. covert operations abroad. The arms shipments could be construed as a covert operation. Several congressional committees have planned inquiries.

The disclosures also dismayed U.S. allies under pressure from the administration not to send arms to Iran.

And they have disquieted Iraq, which is locked in a more than six-year-old war with Iran, a conflict in which the U.S. has officially declared neutrality.

Details of the covert talks with Iran and other secret efforts by the administration to free the hostages still are unfolding and are sketchy. The matter was confused further by a flurry of speculation and rumors that arose despite a White House secrecy order.

It remained unclear, for example, exactly what weapons were shipped to Iran.

According to some published reports, the arms included ground-to-air missiles and spare parts for American-built radar systems and U.S.-made F-4, F-5 and F-15 jet fighters.

Even what is known suggests a scenario resembling the plot of a spy novel, with clandestine arms deliveries, shadowy middlemen and secret U.S. meetings in hostile foreign capitals with agents of international terrorists. The contacts with Iran were overseen and carried out mainly by former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane and Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, a member of the NSC staff, the sources said.

U.S. and Iranian officials confirmed that McFarlane made a secret trip to Iran in September, but remained in his hotel along with four companions before being expelled when word of his visit leaked out to anti-U.S. factions in the Islamic republic.

Other sources said North also made at least one secret visit to Tehran and also met with Iranian leaders in Europe before McFarlane`s September trip. McFarlane met with Iranian officials in New York and Europe as far back as the fall of 1985, when he still was Reagan`s security adviser.

After McFarlane resigned, North served as the NSC`s ``control officer`` and directly oversaw all aspects of the secret dealings with Tehran, the sources said.

``This is a National Security Council operation frontwards and backwards,`` said a congressional source who is monitoring the negotiations.

``They didn`t let anybody else (in the government) in on it.``

White House officials from the President on down have steadfastly refused to comment publicly on reports of the U.S. negotiations with Iran to free the remaining Americans.

McFarlane described the reports as ``fanciful`` but did not deny his mission took place. Attempts to reach North for comment were unsuccessful.

Seeking access to Iranian leaders, U.S. officials reportedly sought the help of a wealthy Iranian-born arms dealer, Cyrus Hashemi.

In 1980, he had helped the CIA in its early attempts to negotiate the release of the American hostages in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

Hashemi died under mysterious circumstances in London last summer. At the time of his death, he was free on bail in connection with federal arms-smuggling charges in New York.